Overview
- The ashes arrived in Havana on a Cubana de Aviación flight and were received in an official ceremony led by Interior Minister Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas.
- Authorities set two days of public honors that include a procession to the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, an open viewing, provincial tributes, and a protest at the Tribuna Antimperialista outside the U.S. Embassy.
- Cuban officials said the personnel were on missions under bilateral security cooperation, as reporting and analysts indicate many served in Nicolás Maduro’s close-protection detail.
- State television showed wounded Cuban personnel returning from Venezuela without an official count, with images depicting more than a dozen, some in wheelchairs.
- Tensions escalated after President Donald Trump warned there would be no Venezuelan oil or money for Cuba and urged an agreement, while Havana denied receiving monetary compensation for its security assistance and Caracas has not disclosed full casualty figures.